A very large crowd gathered at Telstra Stadium on Sunday night for the NRL Grand Final were also treated to some fine football in the final of the Premier League grade between the Canberra side and St Marys/Penrith Cougars with Canberra the desicive victors by 31-6.

A study on the incidence of injury in junior rugby league in the Penrith & District Junior Rugby League area has revealed some interesting statistics on both the safety of junior footy and other sports which are commonly promoted as the ?safe sport? options.

THE Canberra Raiders surpassed almost everyone?s expectations except maybe their own. When I did my season preview I tipped the Raiders to finish sixth and they did eventually finish sixth after ending the regular season in fourth place with 16 wins and eight losses. The turnaround is nothing short of remarkable as most of the Rubgy League experts had Canberra finishing well outside the top eight and some even tipped the Raiders to win the wooden spoon.

FROM the time referee Bill Harrigan blew time on, until the siren signaled the end of 80 minutes, the rugby league world experienced one of the truly epic encounters in recent memory.
The two best sides of 2003 put on a display that warranted not only a Grand Final but also a place in rugby league folklore.

THE Canberra Raiders surpassed almost everyone?s expectations except maybe their own. When I did my season preview I tipped the Raiders to finish sixth and they did eventually finish sixth after ending the regular season in fourth place with 16 wins and eight losses. The turnaround is nothing short of remarkable as most of the Rubgy League experts had Canberra finishing well outside the top eight and some even tipped the Raiders to win the wooden spoon.

FROM the time referee Bill Harrigan blew time on, until the siren signaled the end of 80 minutes, the rugby league world experienced one of the truly epic encounters in recent memory.
The two best sides of 2003 put on a display that warranted not only a Grand Final but also a place in rugby league folklore.